Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
If Dreamworks and Chris Rock have made a comedy even half as funny as OLD SCHOOL, then I’m eager to take a peek at it. Personally, I’m entertained by the mere thought of Bernie Mac as Vice-President. He’s one of my favorite comics working in film right now, and I keep rooting for him to get a role that is worthy of his incredible slow burn and his explosive sense of timing, and I’ve got my fingers crossed that this will do for him what OLD SCHOOL is poised to do for Will Farrell.
Fitting, then, that Mr. Beaks is the one who got the first look at the film, since he was the one who turned me on to the possibilities of OLD SCHOOL. Let’s see what he’s got to say...
HEAD OF STATE – Test Screening (d. Chris Rock, w. Rock & Ali LeRoi)
Since his breakthrough 1996 HBO special, “Bring the Pain”, repositioned him as one of the sharpest comedy minds working today, Chris Rock’s flirtations with Hollywood have been oddly timid, resulting in a mix of films that never seem pitched to his blunt comedic sensibilities. This is due mostly to the fact that he’s only credited as a writer on two features – CB4 and DOWN TO EARTH – but even these two films play as defanged distillations of his stand-up act. The latter picture is particularly troubling. Chris shouldn’t be trying to emulate Warren Beatty (well, maybe Buck Henry, but not the Henry of that script); he should be looking to the decorum flouting, no-holds-barred parodies of Mel Brooks for his inspiration.
Alas, with HEAD OF STATE, wherein Chris plays a streetwise D.C. Alderman who suddenly finds himself selected as a major party candidate for President of the United States, the tone is once again silly and cuddly, with only minor hints of the edge that distinguishes him from most comics working today. Scripted with his producer and longtime co-writer, the very funny Ali Leroi, Rock’s primary concern seems to be with establishing himself as a credible onscreen lead. This may be why he finally decided to step behind the camera as well, and though there’s precious little blood drawn by the overly familiar gags, it must be said that, for once, Rock looks comfortable, which goes a long way toward making this offhanded, irredeemably silly effort far more palatable than it should be.
It all gets off to a very promising start as we’re brought up to speed by the incomparable Nate Dogg, masterful as the film’s Greek Chorus (and unfailingly flanked by a gyrating pair of video ho’s). Through his mellifluous baritone, we’re introduced to the honorable, hard working Mays Gilliam (Rock), who’s fighting for his constituents rights against an indifferent city. When Mays narrowly saves the life of an elderly woman from being blown up in a building scheduled for demolition, he becomes a hero of the community at the same fortuitous time that two airplanes carrying the rival Presidential candidates collide. With both parties scrambling to find replacement candidates so close to the actual election, the leader of the thinly-veiled Democratic Party (played with reliable sleaze by James Rebhorn) concocts a scheme to run an African-American as cannon fodder against the Republicans’ unbeatable emergency contender, the incumbent Vice President Brian Lewis (Nick Searcy); thus, freeing up the Party chief to run in 2008. To this end, they turn on a television and find Mays, who, after some prodding, consents to their improbable proposition. For his unlikely Presidential run, he’s set up with an experienced team of campaign managers (Dylan Baker and Lynn Whitfield), a security force led by the unsmiling Xander Berkeley, and, most amusingly, a Super Whore (don’t ask), whose job is to cater to his every carnal urge.
With such a far-fetched premise, Rock and Leroi are clearly trying very hard not to offend any potential ticket buyers in this very divisive political climate; therefore, they’ve depicted the campaign world as a cartoon, tipping over very few sacred cows, while trotting out a familiar set of groan-worthy gags that actually work in spite of their clichéd nature thanks to some very inspired execution. For example, the scene that’s likely to dominate the HEAD OF STATE trailer, a fund raising party where Mays induces a stiff group of white folks to boogie down to a medley of hot Neptunes beats, is a crowd pleaser because the decidedly unhip partygoers electric slide and crip walk like it’s second nature. And though it’s no surprise when Mays rejects the staid nature of his campaign ads in favor of an approach fresh out of a Jay-Z video, the joke works by dint of the filmmakers’ spot-on sense of parody.
There are, however, a number of gags and sequences that fall far short of their potential. A campaign stop at a Player’s Ball in Detroit is surprisingly limp, with one sure-fire laugh – an ambitious pimp trying to turn out the straight-laced, Condi Rice-esque Lynn Whitfield character – disappointingly abandoned as quickly as it’s seemingly being set-up. Then, there’s the underutilized talents of SNL’s explosively funny Tracy Morgan, who appears early as a crackpot local street vendor who sells stolen meat and quickly disappears. Meanwhile, the underrated Tamala Jones, herself a capable comedic performer in otherwise forgettable films like BOOTY CALL and THE LADIES MAN, is asked to do very little but look adorable as the object of Mays’s attentions.
But there is a secret weapon in HEAD OF STATE’s arsenal: Bernie Mac. As hot as Rock was five years ago, Bernie gives the film a jumpstart right as it’s beginning to hit the dreaded Second Act Sag. When he shows up as Mays’s brother, Mitch – a fast-talking bail bondsman from (I think) St. Louis – the picture really begins to crackle. Brought on to save his brother’s faltering campaign, Mitch hits the political talk circuit for some hilariously persuasive damage control. It’s a classic bit of scene-stealing, carrying the film all the way through to its obligatory stand-up-and-cheer finale, and cementing Bernie Mac’s reputation as a comedic powerhouse.
Judging from the very positive reaction from the test screening audience, HEAD OF STATE does appear to be the likely hit Chris Rock’s film career desperately needs, but the true measure of its success should be the number of opportunities it allows this very gifted comedian and how he takes advantage of them. Frankly, he’s *much* better than this harmless, homogenized trifle.
Faithfully submitted,
Mr. Beaks
Hmmmm... something’s missing. Maybe I should find some photos of a nude Bernie Mac to accompany this review. Yeah... or maybe I should just stop hanging around Harry the Perv so much. Sorry, Beaks.
"Moriarty" out.
